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Raymarine ST 1000 AutoPilot for my kicker motor


garrymny

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I just ordered a Raymarine ST 1000 for my boat. I just want to hold heading mainly because I fish alone. I hope it will be strong enough to drive my big motor, connected by a rod to my kicker motor. I have found that I must drive both motors to have enough rudder surface to control the boat in choppy waters. It dos require quite a bit of torque to move both motors. Hope it works.  I know it is made to drive tiller on a sailboat which would not require much torque, although it says it can 125 lbs of torque. If you have info on this I wold appreciate it. For $363, I had to try it. I was working on a home built arduino based autopilot but it is taking too long to work out the bugs. 

Edited by garrymny
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I hope it works. I don't have an outdrive. I have a 70 HP outboard and a 9.9 kicker. I am going to drive the 7o HP with the raymarine,and I have a steering rod to the kicker.

 

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Hawkeye 625, that worked, thank you. It turns easy now. I installed the Raymarine ST1000. I had to make brackets  to mount to the outboard, and it had to be detachable to allow the motor to tilt. I also had to build a support for the end of the Autopilot. I had to cut an oval shaped hole in the bucket, slide the AP through it, and fabricate a bracket that I bolted to the transom. This bracket  sticks out about 15 inches from the transom and supports the mount pin on the end of the Raymarine. I also replaced the flimsy plastic end on the Autopilot with a Panther marine quick disconnect. Can't wait to try it. For $363 I had to try. I posted a pictures of one of the brackets I made. The one part of the bracket stays bolted to the motor. The other half can be detached, by pulling the pin. This allows the motor to tilt. The bracket also gives some leverage and reduces the amount of force required. This is the cheapest way to get an autopilot in your boat. As I said, I have not tested yet, as the weather looks bad for the next week, waves too high. The ST1000 gives heading hold, and GPS steering.

ST1000 install in my boat.jpg

bracket for ST1000 I made.jpg

Edited by garrymny
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I found (before I got the autopilot) with just steering the kicker I didn't have enough control. So ever since then I have to drive both motors via a rod to kicker. You are correct, not enough rudder action without the the big motor. I could not have built this without my welder. Best $500 I ever spent. I taught myself. My welds are not always pretty, but they hold.

Sent from my XT1030 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

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Tried the autopilot out today for the first time. Calibrated it fine, and it worked perfectly all day long. Held a perfect heading from 0600 to 1PM!  I was able to make any correction I needed, with the press of a button.  This is the best $365 I spent on gear for the boat. So nice to be able to tend the lines and not worry about it! I have it connected to its own deep cell battery. 

 

 

Edited by garrymny
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yeah, I gave up on the arduino after the second model of compass circuit would not work. I was close to getting it all working, but I really got tired of not having an autopilot. So i took a chance on this Raymarine and it works great.. 

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Ok great news for those who need cheap Auto pilot. Today, June 24 in 3 to 5 foot waves the Auto pilot worked great. Now there was an occasion when I could not turn 360 to head back the other direction, but It worked great with the wind and against the wind and even quartering.

Sent from my XT1030 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

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